Buttonhole sewing machine



Aug. 2, 1949.

F. A; REECE, JR,, ETA 7 2,477,941 BUTTONHOLE SEWING MACHINE I 3 Sheebs-Sheet 1 Filed April 4, 1946 rim we s Q wy J N .mcm u Nam A l N T. Q ull ll N\\ MW Aug. 2, 1949.- F.'A. REECE, JR., ETAL BUTTONHOLE SEWING MACHINE 3 She ets- S Ee e t 2 Filed April 4-. 194a I Aug. 2, 1949.

F. A. REECE! JR., EIAL Bu'r'roNnoLE sawme momma 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed April 4, 1946 Patented Aug. 2, 1949 TEsl) STATES PAT EN 1" oiFFlic a:

BUTTONHOLE SEWING MACHINE Ar'Reece, Jr., and Walter 'E. Nichols,

Milton, Mass, assigznors, by mesneassignments,

to The Reece Corporation, Boston, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Application- A-pril 4, 1946, Serial No. 659,588

9 Claims. (01. 112-71) the said end is enlarged to form an eye or not.

in sewing. such huttonholes, stitching begins at theend opposite the eyelet, progresses along one m'de, then around the eyelet-end, and finally along thezother side. Eyelet-end buttonholes are of two main classes, open-end buttonholes and fly-bar :hwttonholes. The machine embodying the present invention can be used for sewing either of these types of buttonholes.

ithas been found in the use of eyelet-end buttonhole sewing machines it is desirable to be able. tovary the number of stitches to be put in on the twosides-of the buttonhole; also to be able tov change the machine quickly so that a no-eye 'buttonho le can be sewn immediately after sewan eyelet-end: buttonhole, and yet put in a suitablenumber of stitches at the rounded end othheabuttonho'le whether or not an eye is formed.

For instance, it is frequently desirable to be able to sew a. no-eye buttonhole in the lapel of a coat immediately after sewin eyelet-end buttonholes in the edge of the coat. Our present invention provides means which automatically adjusts the feed? during the sewing of the buttonhole so that the number of stitches on one side of the buttonhOlB/Cfilflhfi varied with respect to the'number of stitches :on theother side, and also provides means iior omitting-ethenecessary number of stitches at the rounded .endwhen a no-eye buttonhole is sewn, the remaining stitches being spaced uni- .ifiormly.

In general the machine embodying our'invention isvofithe-type show in the patent to Kiewicz, No; 1.7264153, in which the stitching mechanism above-and below the work is given lon itudinal, iateral, and rotative movements. These movements of the work holder are effected by a main cam..and related mechanism carried by the movable stitching frame.

Referring now to the drawings:

Fig; I is a side elevation of a substantially com- :pletecbuttonhole sewing machine having applied theretomeohanismembodying the present invention';

Figs.2 and 3 are sectionstakenrespectively on the-lines 2--2 and 3--3-of Fig. 1;

Fig: l isa detail View; Figs. 8-:a-nd 9 are plan views of different types ef battonholes the present machine is capable'of Fig. 10 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but with the 1 arts in a di-fierent operative position;

Fig. 11 is a- View similar to Fig. 1 but with certain partsdifferently adjusted;

Fig. 1-2 is a view similar to Figs. 2 and 10 but with the parts in a different operative position after the adjustment of Fig. 11 has been made; and

Fig. 13- is a view looking in the directionof the arrow 13 in Fig. 12.

The machine comprises a stationary workholding or bed frame B, carrying clamps 20 for holding the work W in which buttorrholesare to be formed, and a movable stitching frame S carrying thetstitching instrumentalities and buttonhol'e cutting devices together with mechanism for imparting the necessary movements to the stitching frame to position the stitches and for other purposes.

The stitching instrumentalities comprise needle .21 carried by the upper turret 25, and a conventional 'looper' (not shown'i carried-bythe lower turret 25". The turrets 2'5 and it are eperated in the usual. manner by the turretoperat ing lever 3t and main cam C. The main cam C is carried on the: stitching frame S and is provided with three grooves 21,- 22' and 23 of which the groove 5&2 on the under surface cooperates witl i a cam roll 35 to move the turret operating lever 34. The groove 2 I cooperates with the 'fi x'ed roll 2'4 mounted on the' bed frame B to move the .s-titchingframe as required and to feed the stitching instrumentalities with respect to the work. the groove 2-3 cooperates with acam roll 1- to provide the necessary lateral motion of the stitching frame S with respect-to-the work. This lateral. movement of the stitchin frame S is required' during the barringoi the buttonhole and in putting in the stitches at the eye end of the buttonhole. The main cam C is driven by'a Worm 1511 (Fig. 2 engaging teeth on the edge of the cam and the worm is. given avariable step-by-step movement by a feed crank 48 and a one-way driving. connection which is preferably of the roller clutchtype shown at -5| (Figs. 3 and 4'). This crank is operatedbya link it connected to one arm of a bell-crank- 4'4 pivoted at 45 to the stitching frame S andcarr-ying on its other arm acam' roll'43in the groove 420i the'cam H This cam is fixed to shaft which is driven by a pulley (not shown).

In general the turret-operating mechanism comprises the turret operating lever 34 pivoted at It to the stitching frame S, the link 83 connected toan arm 32 on the gear sector shaft" 3'1, thegear sectors 29, and the gears 28 which operate the-upper and lowerturrets '25 and 26.

The mechanism described thus far is-conveiitional; and provides-means for rotatingthe main cam step by'step, for feeding the stitchingdc vices lengthwise andlaterallyof the button hole and for rotating the turrets to stitch around the eye of the button hole.

The mechanism by which the number of stitches on one side of the buttonhole may be varied with respect to those put in on the other side will now be described. It will be assumed that the machine is set to put in a given number of stitches on the first side 3 (see Fig. 8) and that it is desired to put in more stitches on the second side 4. Accordingly, it is necessary to shorten the feed of the stitching mechanism during the stitching of the second side so that more stitches will be put in.

The oscillating feed crank 48 is provided with a way 52 in which is slidably mounted a pivot block 41 carrying a pivot stud '53 (Fig. 3) which is received in the eye of link 46. The outer end of the pin 53 passes through a hole in a link 63 which is also slotted as shown at 86 and the parts are held in position on the pin by a nut 54. The slot 80 in the link 63 receives a pin 62 mounted on a swinging arm 68. This arm is pivoted at 6| to the stitching frame S and is normally held to the right, as shown in Fig. 1, by the spring 55 acting on the pin 56. Accordingly, if the swinging arm 60 is moved to the left, it moves the connecting rod pin 53 on the block 4''! with it and increases the effective length of the crank. This turns the worm 50 through .a smaller angle and consequently turns the main cam C a smaller amount, shortening each step of the feed.

The movement of the swinging arm 69 as required is accomplished by the following mechanism. On the turret-operating lever 34, see particularly Figs. 1, 2, 6, and 12, there is pivotally mounted by a pivot 65 and clamping nut 9, a stitch feed varying cam 66 (see Fig. '7) having a curved cam track 61. The turret-operating lever 34 is provided with two ears 69 in which are screw-threaded studs 18. To adjust the mechanism to change the number of stitches which will be put in on the second side of the buttonhole, the clamping nut 9 is loosened. Then one of the studs 10 is unscrewed a little and the other is screwed in further, tilting the cam on the turretoperating lever. When adjusted to the position required the clamping nut 9 is tightened.

In the cam groove 61 of the stitch feed varying cam 66 is a cam follower mounted on one arm of a bell crank 12 pivoted at 13 to the stitching frame S. The other end of the bell crank carries a stud 14 which is movable in a slot 15 formed on one arm of a second bell crank 16. This second bell crank is pivoted at 17 on the stitching frame S and its other arm is connected by a link 18 to a rod 19 which slides in guides 8 secured to the stitching frame S. The rear end of the rod 19 is connected by a pivot 8| to a slotted link 82 which engages a stud 83 on the swinging arm 69.

Accordingly, when the proper point in the eye of the buttonhole is reached and the turret-operating lever 34 swings about its pivot |6 to rotate the turrets, the stitch feed varying cam 66 moves the cam follower II from the position shown in Fig. 2 through the position shown in Fig. 12 to the position shown in Fig. 10. This moves the bell cranks I2 and 76, as shown in Fig. 10, and pulls the swinging arm 60 to the left, as shown in Fig. 1, thereby increasing the effective length of the crank 48 so that more stitches will be put in on the succeeding side of the buttonhole.

The cam groove 61 in the stitch feed varying cam 66 on the turret-operating lever 34 is given its peculiar shape for the following reasons: The

movement of the bell crank levers I2 and 16 produced by the movement of the stitch feed varying cam 66 takes place during the stitching of the eye and since the movement of the bell crank levers affects the length of feed during this time the cam is laid out so that the change in the positions of the bell cranks during the movement of the cam from one extreme position to the other will not interfere with the rate of feed, around the eye, which at this time is controlled by other mechanism which will be described hereafter. By this means the chang in the length of feed effected by the cam 66 does not occur until the portion of the eye which is sewn during the movement of the turrets 25 and 26 is completed and the sewing of the second side of the buttonhole is about to begin.

The mechanism by which the machine may be changed quickly from sewing an eyelet-end buttonhole to sew a no-eye buttonhole or vice versa and the number of stitches put in during the stitching of the eye may be reduced or increased as required, will now be described. At 86 (see Figs. 1 and 5) is shown an eye-feed adjusting handle pivoted at 81, and provided with a latch 88 moving about a pivot 89 and normally held in latched position by a spring 96. The latch carries a pin 9| which can move along a slot 92 in a quadrant 93, see also Fig. 11, secured to the stitching frame of the machine. At the right hand end of the slot 92 in th quadrant 93 is located a stop piece I66 adjustabl held to the quadrant by a bolt |9|. Likewise at the left hand end of the quadrant there is another adjustable stop piece I82. Each stop piece has a hole I03 in it to receive the pin 9|. By pressing the handle of the latch 88 the pin 9| can be withdrawn from the hole and the handle then moved along the quadrant 93 and the pin 9| inserted in the other hole I03. The stop pieces I00 and I02 are adjustable along the quadrant 93 as required in sewing eyes of diiferent sizes. The upper end of the eye-feed adjusting handle 86 which extends beyond the pivot 87 is connected to a rod 94, the

other end of which is connected to a sliding rod 95 bent at right angles to form a movable stop 96 (see Figs. 1, 2, l1 and 12). Adjustment of the handle 86, therefore, changes the position of the stop 96. This stop 96 is in the path of the swinging arm 68 and limits its movement to the right as seen in Figs. 1 and 13.

In Figs. 1 and 2 the parts are shown in the position which they occupy when a buttonhole having an eye such as is shown in Fig. 8 is to be sewn. In this case the eye-feed adjusting handle 86 is at the extreme right and the stop 96 is in its extreme left hand position and, therefore, limits the movement of the swinging arm 66 to the right. When a no-eye buttonhole such as is shown in Fig. 9 is to be sewn, the eye-feed adjusting handle 86 is placed in the position shown in Fig. 11 and the stop 96 is moved to the right. When the stop 96 is in the right hand position shown in Fig. 11 the block 41 is pulled to the right as shown in Fig. 13 by the swinging arm and spring 55 as soon as the stitch feed varying cam 66 reaches the position shown in Fig. 12. The shift of position of the block 41 shortens the eifective length of the crank 48 and consequently increases the distance which the main cam C is moved at each stroke of the crank 48. Since the shorter the effective length of the crank 48, the greater the annular distance through which the cam C and the turrets 25, 26 will be turned for each revolution of the main shaft 40, the machine in this adjustment 

